Pushkin

PUSHKIN

The town of Pushkin is situated 20 kilometers from Saint Petersburg. Formerly Tsar's Village, it used to be the parade imperial residence. In this town used to live A.S.Pushkin, N.M.Karamzin, M.Yu.Lermontov, A.N.Tolstoy, A.A.Akhmatova.

In the early XVIII century Peter the Great granted to Menshikov a small county estate. Then it was bequeathed to the tsar's wife Ekaterina Alekseevna. Starting from 1724 it was called as Tsarskoe Selo.

In 1718 the construction of a small palace with a garden began. By the middle of the XVIII century Tsarskoe Selo had become the parade residence. The project of the Bolshoi Catherine Palace was started by M.Zemtsov and A.Kvastsov. In 1748 the construction work was headed by the architect V.Rastrelli. He developed a general plan of the construction of the palace and park. The facade with the height of more than 300 m is embellished with columns, figures of the atlantes, cartouches with coat of arms and openwork balcony railings. The suite of the golden parade halls with the widely known Amber Hall impressed the contemporaries. The palace is surrounded with picturesque parks adorned with marble sculptures by masters of the Venetian school such as P.Baratta, A.Tarsia, D.Bonazza.

The Ekateriniskiy and Alexandrovskiy parks flanking the palace on the both sides are easily seen from windows of the parade halls. The parks contain various pavilions. Not far from the palace, near the Hermitage alley there are two pavilions in the simple classic style : the Upper and Lower Baths designed by the architect I.Neelov. On the shore of the pond the architect erected the Admiralty. Decorative brickwork, lancet windows, crenellated turrets contribute to the striking uniqueness of this edifice. The Cameron Gallery was particularly intended for viewing and walking about the park and was designed by architect Ch.Cameron. Peculiar beauty of the gallery is reflected in its sculpture : bronze busts of the ancient philosophers, poets, political and military leaders.

The territory of the Alexandrovskiy park contains the most remarkable structure - the Alexander Palace. It was built in 1792 - 1796 by architect G.Quarenghi for Alexander, the grandson of empress Catherine II.

In 1811 in Tsarskoe Selo the Lyceum, a school for the children of the nobility. It was located in the four-story wing of the Catherine Palace reconstructed for the educational purposes by V.Stasov. From 1811 to 1817 it had also been the place of Pushkin's education. The motif of the Lyceum and its beautiful parks influenced all his works. At the moment the Lyceum houses the Pushkin Memorial Museum.